This week we're getting to know our guest editor Roshani Chokshi a little better. Discover the writing routine that gets this New York Times bestseller published, find out what fast food joint she used to work in and get some sound writing advice.
Describe your writing routine.
Wake up, put my phone on airplane mode, make coffee, appease Teddy The Cat... do some freewriting for 5 minutes on any writing prompt that strikes my fancy (usually Magical Realism Bot on Twitter supplies enough imagination snacks) and then dive back into what I'm working on. If it's a first draft deadline, I like to outline (lightly) what I a) want the reader to know from the chapter and b) plant the seeds for what the reader will later discover in future chapters. I like to use block sites on Google Chrome to keep me concentrated for 25-30 minutes sprints, and then I get up, check my phone, annoy the cat, deeply ponder the merits of exercise, inevitably refuse to exercise and get back to it until four p.m. when I usually hit the point of diminishing. And then I read! If I'm working on a revision and not on deadline, it's a lot more leisurely. I don't necessarily write every day, but more like when the creative well is good and full.
What was the first/worst job you ever had before becoming an author.
I worked at McDonalds and professionally said: "Do you want fries with that?"
When was the moment you started to feel like a writer?
When I started working with a critique partner and actively revising my words based on the feedback of others.
What is the number one piece of advice you'd give to aspiring authors?
Read widely, listen compassionately.
Who inspires you?
The women in my family.
Why is it important for women to tell their stories?
The world will always silence us. It will always write us out of the narrative. And yet, we're the pillars of it all. It's not our responsibility to shoulder the burden of invisibility. It's an act of rebellion to put ourselves unapologetically at the center of the stage.
Photo Credit: SyFy Wire
